District 6B 2026 Primary Election Guide: Republicans

KAXE contacted every candidate up to three times using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.

Candidate responses have not been edited and are published exactly as submitted, including typos and formatting. All details, except endorsement and incumbency, were submitted by the candidate.

As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics. We will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.

Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.

KAXE's Primary Election Guide only includes races where enough candidates filed to trigger a primary. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else will be on the ballot in November.

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About this race

Republican Rep. Josh Heintzeman is running for reelection. He's being challenged in the primary by Matthew Eric Zinda.

House District 6B is in Crow Wing County and includes the cities of Brainerd, Baxter, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes and Breezy Point.

The winner of this primary will face Democratic candidate Nicky Hardy in the general election in November.

Remember: In the primaries, you can only vote for candidates from one political party. If you vote for candidates from more than one party, your vote won't be counted. You decide which party you will vote for, as Minnesota doesn't have political party registration.

Click the tabs below to learn more about the candidates

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Still have questions for the candidates? Contact information for all those who've filed to run for office can be found at candidates.sos.state.mn.us.